Friday, June 25, 2010

Tiny bow & arrow

Here is a beautiful little toy that you can make out of things that you probably already have in your house:

We have given these as birthday gifts a few times, and they work very well for 4 to 6 year olds. We put them in a special pouch with 6 arrows, and we use fine point pens to decorate the bow with the child's name. They require some practice and fine motor coordination. Contrary to what you saw in that last menacing picture, in our house there is a no-shooting-in-the-direction-of-people-or-pets rule. Take care, they can shoot a surprising 15-20 feet!

95 comments:

when camping when the children were younger we used to make bows and arrows with found sticks and twine. The arrows were whittled to a point but then a marshmallow was placed on the end.They were very useful later in the evening when the campfire was one.have a wonderful weekend.

My kids had a blast making these over the holidays. We tried the dental floss but, wound up replacing it with a small rubber band. It seemed to work better. Also, we soaked the sticks half the day then, we put them down in a cup and let them dry out/ harden. Thanks so much for the GREAT idea!!

Thanks, everybody, for all of your comments! Here are a few more tips to help you with your bow and arrows:

Make sure your notches are deep enough that you can wrap the floss tightly around the stick four or five times after you tie the first knot, and another four or five times before you tie the second knot.

If your knots are slipping or your strings are getting slack over time, try tying them with something like a round turn and two half hitches. I use a thick, waxy tape style of dental floss, but they also work with a heavy gauge sewing thread.

Here are some tips that might help:*Make sure your bowstring is nice and tight.*Put your arrow on the side of the bow where the string is closest to the edge.*Grab the arrow with your thumb and index finger, keeping the bowstring inside the "o" of your fingers. Place the blunt end of the arrow against the string and draw it back slowly until you feel the resistance. Hold the bow steady and quickly open your fingers to release the arrow. (Use the last two photos for reference.)

defiantly NOT enough detail/instructions on getting the floss tied and on the one side!also, its quite confusing on how to let the Popsicle dry to keep perfectly round. if i were rating this id give it a 2 at best. sorry but you need to improve on this detail. i tried it and it WILL NOT work as easily as this website makes it sound!!!!!!!!

My daughter-in-law shared your idea with me. I'm so excited to do it at our summer camp. We made bamboo bows and dowel arrows in a previous week; but for our giants theme we will be the giants with our mini bows and arrows! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I'm hoping to try this. I noticed one person tried rubber bands instead of floss. Any comments or pointers on that modification? (Is floss better?) If we used rubber bands, any pointers on securing them?

Omg I love this! I plan on using them for my daughters "Brave" themed birthday party. ne question. After soaking how long do you wait to put on the floss? Also, about how long should the floss be or do you not recomend cutting it until it is fully tied off on both ends? Thanks!

This works brilliantly! BUT you have to pay close attention to Maiz's instructions about the way you hold the arrow. I re-read her instructions in the comment section about making sure the string is inside the "o" of your thumb and finger. In other words, your thumb and finger are on either side of the string, gripping (or pinching) the arrow end against the string as you draw back. Then you have good control and it's a winner!

I don't think it will matter which kind of q-tip you use. The ones we used have a white cardboard-like stick, but I think the hollow plastic ones should work just fine. I saw some cool ones in a Japanese market that have a pointy cotton tip, so if you can find those, I bet they'd look great!

We usually just recycle little drawstring gift bags, but we've also made pouches out of fabric. I think that something like this would be very cool, and I love the idea that kids could make it out of felt: http://pm-betweenthelines.blogspot.com/2011/03/simple-drawstring-coin-purse-tutorial.htmlI also love this style of bag, and if you like to sew, it would be perfect:http://kittybabylove.com/draw-string-bag-tutorial/

I'm the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your bow & arrow project! You can see it here:

http://funfamilycrafts.com/tiny-bow-and-arrow/

If you have other kid-friendly crafts, we'd love it if you would submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!

I draw on them after they are soaked and then dry, but usually before I tie the floss. They dry in under an hour if left in the sun (you could probably speed that up with a hairdryer), and yes, you can shoot them as soon as the floss is tied!

I'd like to make these for a Robin Hood story time at the library, but all my examples keep cracking :(. I soaked the popsicle sticks overnight, which allowed me to bend them without breaking, but every time I try to "string" the dental floss the notch ends up cracking a little and the floss starts sliding down the crack so it won't stay taught. Any suggestions? I'm not sure if it's the quality of the popsicle sticks or the way I'm cutting the notches (with a dull box cutter, which is the only sharp implement we have in the Children's Room!) or if its something else!

Love it all! How did you make the quiver? FYI- My 12 year old son has made a bunch and he realized the floss stretched out quite quickly, so we used my daughter's friendship bracelet floss (you know, embroidery thread- the stuff you use for cross stich). Thanks for the idea! My kids are loving it!

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